Los Angeles
County
Biographies
RALPH
F. ERLINGHEUSER, D. O.
A
very able and successful doctor, Ralph F. Erlingheuser,
D. O., has been practicing in the Alhambra area since 1948. Gradually his specialty has become the
connective tissue system of the human body; he has written and published
articles in this field and is now in the process of writing a text, “The
Anatomy of Stress”. A graduate of the
College of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons in Los Angeles, Dr. Erlingheuser has been a lecturer for the Academy of Applied
Osteopathy in post graduate courses and seminars and has also served as a
lecturer for the Ortho-Biophysical Society and the Osteopathic Cranial
Academy. He is gleaning much of the
material for his present book from classes at the College of Osteopathic
Physicians and Surgeons where he is serving as prosector
in the anatomy laboratory.
Dr.
Erlingheuser was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on
June 20, 1917, the son of Frederick William and Marie Martha (Cosmar) Erlingheuser. Both his parents came to America from Germany
and became United States citizens. His
father was born in Berlin and spent the first three years of his life there;
his mother was born in Nuremberg and lived there for three years.
Graduating
from New Haven High School in 1934, Dr. Erlingheuser
came to California in 1936 on the advice of two high school chums who had come
west and indicated that California was the place to be. Immediately on arriving in Los Angeles he
enrolled at Los Angeles City College to continue his
education and graduated in 1940 with an Associate of Arts degree. Prior to coming to California he had been a
clerk at the Young Men’s Christian Association in New Haven, and with this
background he worked in the same capacity in the Los Angeles Young Men’s
Christian Association. He thus
maintained himself while attending college.
After graduating from Los Angeles City College, Dr. Erlingheuser
took courses at the University of Southern California and at Pasadena City
College to complete his eligibility to the College of Osteopathic Physicians
and Surgeons. He completed his freshman
year at that college and then spent a year working for the California
Shipbuilding Corporation on Terminal Island, aiding in the production of
Liberty Ships, to replenish his capital.
He re-entered medical school in 1942 and graduated from the College of
Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons with a Doctor of Osteopathy degree, taking
and passing the state board examinations the same year. Dr. Erlingheuser
immediately became an intern at the Los Angeles County Hospital and continued
his work there until September, 1946, at which time he filled the Locum Tenens
in Dr. Ralph Burton’s office in San Bernardino while Dr. Burton went to Europe
to study surgery. Upon Dr. Burton’s
return in May, 1947, Dr. Erlingheuser accepted a
residency-fellowship at the Cleveland (Ohio) Osteopathic Hospital in internal
medicine and manipulative therapeutics.
The following April he returned to the San Gabriel Valley to open
offices in Alhambra at the site of the present Butler Brothers Store. His office is now located at 404 East Las
Tunas Drive in San Gabriel; his home is in Alhambra.
Professionally
Dr. Erlingheuser has been honored by the Los Angeles
Academy of Applied Osteopathy by being made their president in 1958-1959. He is also a Diplomate
of the National Board of Examiners, receiving that high honor in 1946. On the staff of the San Gabriel Valley
Hospital, Dr. Erlingheuser is a member of both the
American and the California Osteopathic Associations and is affiliated with
Iota Tau Sigma, a professional fraternity.
In
Alhambra Dr. Erlingheuser is a member of the Elks
Lodge Number 1328, and is vice president of the
Exchange Club, and a former member of the board of control of that club.
On
May 27, 1939, in Ventura, California, Dr. Erlingheuser
married the former Miss Margaret Ellen Treadwell. Mrs. Erlingheuser
is president of the Exchangettes in Alhambra. The doctor and his wife have a son and a
daughter: Michael Wayne, born on August
24, 1945, and Pamela, born on January 30, 1947.
Both children received their elementary education at Granada School in
Alhambra and presently attend Alhambra High School where Michael is a four year
letterman in basketball and Pamela is a member of the Rainbow Girls. This family rates special notice since every
member is over six feet tall. Mrs. Erlingheuser, “Peggy”, the shortest, is exactly six feet
tall; Pamela is 6’ 1”; Dr. Erlingheuser is 6’ 6”; and
Michael is 6’ 9”. The doctor has
observed that “the children have stopped growing”.
Dr.
Erlingheuser is possessed of an excellent sense of
humor and an attitude of delightful informality about himself and his
accomplishments. His hobby is
woodworking, and he and his son, Michael, go at it in a big way – they have
built a twenty-four foot sailing trimaran.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Historical Volume & Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park,
Rosemead, San Gabriel & Temple City, by Robert P. Studer,
Pages 613-615, Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California. 1962.
© 2013 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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